Japan’s GMO says hacker site with allegedly leaked customer data taken down after cyberattack - The Straits Times

The hackers’ ransom demand follows an earlier unauthorised access to GMO’s foreign exchange trading service.

TOKYO – Cyberattack-hit Japanese internet service provider GMO Internet Group said on Oct 28 that a website where a hacker had posted what it claimed was customer information has become inaccessible.

“We have confirmed that the offender’s website domain has been taken down,” GMO said, after the hacker believed to be behind a recently confirmed unauthorised access to GMO’s foreign exchange trading service disclosed some customer information on Oct 27 as the company failed to respond to a ransom demand.

If the launch of another such website is confirmed, GMO will immediately take steps to make it inaccessible, it added.

The customer whose information is believed to have been posted on the website is under the protection of the Metropolitan Police Department due to safety concerns, an investigative source revealed on Oct 28.

The person told investigators that the personal information posted on the website is “partially correct and partially wrong”, according to the source.

The police have also asked GMO to assess the extent of the damage as they investigate the incident as a suspected violation of the law prohibiting unauthorised computer access.

The unauthorised access targeted the Onamae.com Desktop Cloud service.

An investigation following a customer inquiry confirmed on Oct 20 that an unauthorised programme had been installed by a third party in the server environments of some customers.

GMO said late on Oct 26 that the hacker threatened to disclose customer information and to conduct a ransomware attack at noon on Oct 27. A statement from the hacker and information linked to what it claims to be one GMO customer were posted online on Oct 27.

The statement also warned that personal data of customers would be released daily. KYODO NEWS